Re: BOTM, 1/09: Weller Antique

Weller Antique never fails to please. It has plenty of sweet corn and a nutty pecan sweetness that is counterbalanced by vanilla and oak tannins. I most often consume it neat, but it makes for a great Old Fashioned, especially when using a combination of Fee Brothers Old Fashioned and their West Indian Orange bitters.

I find it is also useful in convincing those who think MM is the bee's knees into trying other bourbons. It has the added benefit of being cheep enough that I don't mind if guests want to mix it with Coke. At 107 proof it has lots of flavor and the right amount of heat.

finish:
an astringency that i still can't pin down...don't remember this from the last time...nor do i remember this depth. a touch of water suggests another array of possible associations: dry-oak-tannins encrusted with rock sugar granules. just a few. seems, too, i remember a 'mustiness' last time. not that it was bad, but nowhere present here.

oh yeah, this 107 proof? seems like a 99 proofer.
and yeah...it's not $30? almost beats that last WTRB i had...ALMOST, i said.

very satisfying buy.

are the numbers on the bottom of the bottle meaningful with regards to where/when distilled?

Re: BOTM, 1/09: Weller Antique

Can't believe I missed this thread until now, and sorry if I'm about to come across as an Antique 'fanboy'.

I love Weller Antique, and would even say that it's my favorite Weller. Price has a lot to do with my preference for it, as I'm on a pretty limited budget. The Centennial is very good but when considering that it costs 1.5 times the price of the Antique, I'll stick with the Antique over the long haul. Of course the William Larue Weller is probably the 'top dog' of the Wellers, but it's price makes it a very rare buy for me. For some reason the Weller 12 just doesn't do much for me, and I can easily find it around here for the same price as the Antique, even less sometimes, but I much prefer the Antique over the 12yo. The Special Reserve also doesn't do much at all for me compared to the Antique, though it is still good (as is the 12yo). All the Weller bottlings seem to improve a bit over time after initially being opened IMO.

I must admit though, that most of my appreciation for Weller Antique comes from my experience with older bottlings. The Stitzel-Weller juice from the Louisville bottlings being the best (IMHO), but I also think that the bottles from even just a couple of years ago (2006) have impressed me more than the 2008 release. Not to say that the 2008 is not good, I still like it very much and still prefer it over the other 'regular' Wellers (SR and 12yo). If you see any from 2006 (or earlier), try it and let me know how you think it compares to the 2008.

Re: BOTM, 1/09: Weller Antique

Weller Antique has always been in my bunker and one of my go to pours. I like it plain and simple. I have the added benefit of enjoying a Single Barrel, non-chill filtered Antique done for a store in KY a year or two ago. It's a notch or two above the standard Antique with the good things in the standard Antique accentuated for the better.

It's a rare day if I add anything to my bourbon.....neat is the way I drink it 95% of the time. I'll add water if the proof requires some cutting. Of all the Wellers (WLW the exception), Antique is my favorite with a very close second going to the Binny's 12 year.

“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” - P.J. O’Rourke Greg's "bourbondork" blog

Re: BOTM, 1/09: Weller Antique

I sometimes refer to WA as a Poor Man's Rip; it is the same proof as Old Rip Van Winkle 10/107 but three years younger. However, it runs $19 in Chicagoland, as opposed to $30 for ORVW.

What's odd to me about Weller Antique is how muted and low-key it is. It's an enjoyable pour for the price; obviously it lacks the depth and richness of ORVW 10/107, but it also inexplicably lacks the flavor presence found in plain old everyday Old Fitz BIB. This genuinely surprises me, because I'd have thought it would be stronger in flavor, being 7 years old and 107 proof and all.

I'm still curious as to how the three different distilleries that make wheated bourbon do their thing; we know how Stitzel-Weller did it, and it's a given that all of today's wheaters are descended from that process, but it has to have forked somewhat between Maker's, Buffalo Trace, and Heaven Hill Bernheim - particularly the latter two, which also make standard rye-recipe bourbon and thus have to make adjustments between the two.

Re: BOTM, 1/09: Weller Antique

Weller Antique is one of the best value bourbons there is. It's not to the level of WLW, but I would certainly stack it up against the other Wellers.
I ran out of Antique late in the year, and this thread is a great reminder that I need to go out and get some more.